Vasse Felix Margaret River Single Plot Chardonnay 2023
- 95
- $80
- Drink by: 2025-2036
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To be precise, the single block reference is DHJ1, which is the coolest pocket in the Vasse Felix vineyard at Wallcliffe. With its noteworthy high acidity (7.5g/L, for those interested) and slightly lower than usual ripeness (12.5% alc.), expect something a little outside the usual Margaret River generous Chardonnay experience. Unfined and unfiltered, it arrives in a cloudy, light yellow hue. A dusty earthy scent mixes with stone fruits, citrus, melon, baked quince, Golden Delicious apple and a hint of pineapple skin. More refined in its features showcasing lemon, grapefruit and aromatics of acacia, citrus blossom and wildflowers with a lot less obvious richness than usual, the palate is fiercely defined in firm acidity and phenolic grip. No new oak features, this is all about the power and persuasive qualities of a special block of grapes, 100% Gingin clone, delivering a strikingly individual expression of Chardonnay. With such an impressive structure already built in, I imagine it will age a treat.
Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.
